Let’s Talk Prevention: Reducing Toxic Exposures

Let’s Talk Prevention: Reducing Toxic Exposures is an educational program to increase discussions about environmental exposures between health professionals and patients through the distribution and use of a booklet for health professionals and brochure for patients. The goal of this program to reduce toxic exposures holds implications for reducing the burden of all environmentally-linked diseases, including breast cancer.

Living a healthy lifestyle through proper diet, exercise, and limiting alcohol and tobacco use is important but won’t reduce the burden of environmentally-linked diseases. Additional changes must be made to reduce exposure to chemicals linked with health consequences including cancer, birth defects, reproductive problems, and more. Minimizing exposure to chemicals linked with negative health impacts can lessen the burden of disease and improve public health.

Why Reduce Exposure?

While many states have passed restrictions on specific chemicals, the national Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), has not been updated since it was passed in 1976. Scientists are increasingly demonstrating links between environmental exposures and human health impacts. Known or suspected carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals have been detected in our air, water, soil, food, and consumer products. The CDC’s biomonitoring studies show hundreds of synthetic chemicals in the blood and urine of average American citizens,[i] while federal agency reports calculate that complete health screening data is available for only approximately 7% of over 84,000 chemicals currently registered for use.[ii]